Anti-US protests held in Afghanistan

Amid rising anti-US sentiments in war-battered Afghanistan, hundreds of angry protesters have rallied against US-led military operations in the country.

The protesters said foreign forces have arrested a religious scholar and three of his family members in an overnight raid in Konduz province. They threatened to keep protesting until the scholar is freed.

Konduz officials have confirmed the arrest, saying however that it was not coordinated with Afghan security forces.

Last week, Afghans took to the streets in Ghazni Province to protest at raids launched by international forces.

The Kabul government says the US-led military alliance is violating security agreements by killing Afghan security guards and civilians.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said in late December that NATO was violating a security agreement it had signed with the Kabul government based on which all NATO operations in Kabul must be cleared with the government.

Afghans say the US-led forces, which have targeted hundreds of civilians in different parts of the war-torn country, disregard local culture, adding that hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in US-led airstrikes or ground operations over the past months.

Civilian and foreign casualties stand at record levels despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops and mercenaries in Afghanistan. Civilians have been the main victims of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the country’s troubled southern and eastern provinces.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO attacks have been a major source of tension between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the US-led alliance. The condition has also dramatically reduced support for the Afghan war.